Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel (Sega Saturn, PC 1997) - AKA "Iron Maiden". Easily the most popular of the Eva video games, frequently re-released. Subsequently ported over to PC, Mac, and PlayStation 2 versions. Re-released on PlayStation Portable (PSP) as recently as April 9, 2009 (in Japan). Girlfriend of Steel is presented almost as a..."lost episode" of the series. It is a "visual novel" in which "gameplay" consists of moving from one in-game video to the next. It has original animation by Gainax for the in-game videos, and a complete episode-worth of new dialogue by the original Japanese voice cast.

In certain ways...it's Evangelion's version of the Star Wars Holiday Special: it has the original cast members, is made by the same production team, and has all of the same sets and props (Gainax animated the in-game videos). Physically, it looks, sounds, and feels like "Evangelion".

Storyline-wise...it is actually more mature than most manga, but could never possibly be part of the actual series, playing up the romance parts of the storyline far more than they would ever really have gone. The basic plot is that similar to the "Jet Alone" robots from episode 7, a rival defense contractor makes fully-mechanical robots, still piloted by 14 year olds, to compete with the Evangelion units, and Shinji ends up falling in love with the new female pilot of one of them.

This pilot, "Mana Kirishima"...is the living embodiment of "Mary Sue character". Look up "Mary Sue" in a dictionary and you'll see a picture of Mana. She is designed to be the "ultimate girlfriend" for Shinji: she's literally a combination of Rei and Asuka. Rei is very introverted, Asuka is very extroverted: Mana balances this out perfectly. She even looks like a physical merging of Rei and Asuka: she has Rei's haircut but Asuka's hair color.

She's sickeningly too perfect, the sort of unrealistic super-girlfriend that only a complete shut-in basement dweller would conceive of as the idealized perfect woman, right next to the green-skinned alien woman who wants to learn about this human thing called "kissing". Unsurprisingly, the fanboys in Japan have developed a large cult around Mana, to the point that her popularity in Japan nearly rivals that of actual cast members.

Fans are seriously afraid that the promised "new character" in Rebuild of Evangelion, Mari Illustrious Makinami, will be "god-damned Girlfriend of Steel all over again".

Last edited by _V_ on Fri Nov 12, 2010 6:12 pm; edited 1 time in total

Dear god I grew up in Arizona too (North Phoenix) and can stand 40+ degree weather. I mean have you guys ever been farther north than Phoenix? I don't expect you to be able to walk around in shorts while it's snowing (when I went to Prescott, or Flagstaff) like I can but come on.

The reason people get into Panty and Stockings is because they talk to themselves into thinking that it's some brilliant attack against moe, and it's not. This has basically caused me to never listen to Karl Olsen from Toonzone again, that guy has burned me too many times about anime. Also you will be amazed at how much people can withstand a running gag just look at how popular Abridged series are when that's all they are (hahaha that's the tenth time they have mocked Yamcha for being weak).

Hey I just laughed, that's more than I ever laughed at Panty and Stocking. Milky Holmes is actually funnier just because it at least knows how to tell a joke that isn't the same joke we already got (hey one of them went insane in prinson that's new)

Well, right now my internet connection which is usually 100k is down is down to around 5k (it does that sometimes) so I can't watch the rest.

Most of the early Evangelion video games, released right after the TV series in the late 1990's when its popularity was at its peak, were for the Sega Saturn console (though some later got transferred to other consoles). Sega Saturn did moderately well in Japan, but in North America it came dead last in the console war against PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64.

The reason for this is that originally, Sega Saturn and PlayStation 1 were supposed to both come out in September 1995. Then in May 1995, four months before the big launch, the president of Sega of America appeared at E3 (this was the first E3) and announced that in a surprise move, Sega Saturn was being launched *immediately* (as in at the end of his speech) at select retailers across the USA, to try to get a four month lead on PlayStation.

This backfired in spectacular fashion: only a handful of games were actually ready, mostly from Sega's in-house development team. The third-party game developers had been developing their titles for the September launch, and felt that Sega had betrayed them to try to boost sales for their in-house studio.

Further, only some retailer chains were included in the surprise early launch...but not major chains Wal-Mart or KB Toys. The result was that most third-party game developers stopped working with Sega, while Wal-Mart and KB Toys refused to sell the Sega Saturn at all, and started actively removing Sega products from their shelves in retaliation.

Finally, an early release only benefited PlayStation: they had advance warning of what price Sega Saturn was being sold for, and had ample time to slash their own prices to 25% cheaper. Sega Saturn thus lost the format war of its generation, with sales distantly trailing behind PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64, and it was terribly unsuccessful in North America.

The result is that most Evangelion video games never got a North American, English-release version, and now exist only on a console that has been out of print for a decade and didn't have widespread popularity in the first place.

The reason people get into Panty and Stockings is because they talk to themselves into thinking that it's some brilliant attack against moe, and it's not.

I attest that, at least in my own case, such an erroneous assumption is not the cause of my current interest in Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. I am often taken aback by its moments of creative and idiosyncratic foulness, and am generally impressed by its production values.

I struggle to recall any other recent title outside the moe classification that has proven so divisive. If nothing else, it has revealed sharp and rigid boundaries between different fans' senses of humour.

Yeah... so it's clear no one watched Panty & Stocking past the first two episodes, because the show changed significantly. Sure there's still inappropriate humor, but there's actual delivery and the animation is great.

Yeah... so it's clear no one watched Panty & Stocking past the first two episodes, because the show changed significantly. Sure there's still inappropriate humor, but there's actual delivery and the animation is great.

Yeah... so it's clear no one watched Panty & Stocking past the first two episodes, because the show changed significantly. Sure there's still inappropriate humor, but there's actual delivery and the animation is great.

Screw that... dude... episode six. The battle. The GODDAMN battle. That was freaking amazing. The moves, the animation, the angles... it was freaking awesome. And I am so happy Japan is loving this anime, means we might just get 26 episodes.

Yeah... so it's clear no one watched Panty & Stocking past the first two episodes, because the show changed significantly. Sure there's still inappropriate humor, but there's actual delivery and the animation is great.

Screw that... dude... episode six. The battle. The GODDAMN battle. That was freaking amazing. The moves, the animation, the angles... it was freaking awesome. And I am so happy Japan is loving this anime, means we might just get 26 episodes.

Yeah, man, the music is incredible. GAINAX, I bow down to you. You have surpassed my expectation. I'm not going to comment on what they said in the podcast about this. I'm just going to quote Ilpalazzo from Excel Saga: "Ignorant masses".

So wait the first two episodes have horrific animation but the rest of the series has good animation? I am suspicious, but I will watch the episode with the demons in it.

As for Ponyo, good god was that god awful, I mean where did the charm of Miyazaki's past movies go. I mean Ponyo was obnoxious, the boy's mother was insane (quick a Tsunami is coming let's ignore all warnings and drive home), and the father of Ponyo looked like he was on drugs.

Yeah... so it's clear no one watched Panty & Stocking past the first two episodes, because of the show changed significantly.

What are you talking 'bout, son? It's all been 'bout poop, dicks, and hidebu.

Yeah, there's only been, like, one more "poop joke" after ep. 1 and it does all revolve around raunchy humor, so I'm not going to say "if you didn't like the first episode, then you should keep on watching". If you're looking for a show to "have a point", then this isn't it.

But they definitely have gone through different and interesting situations combined with Imaishi and co.'s vision in regards to the overall visual composition (people saying this has bad animation need to get their eyes checked...or check the staff credits) and solid timing by the scriptwriters (you can't tell me the soldiers episode wasn't at least amusing). Episode 10/5b had some sobering social commentary that just shows how ambitious the show can be with the staff Imaishi gets to work on this show (there's upcoming episodes with Masayuki and Kazuya Tsrumaki too).

This show is far from being a waste, but I wholeheartedly agree with Zin5ki's last comment.

claiming that episode 1 is really the only bad episode doesn't help your cause because episode 2 was barely better since nearly the entire thing was "Panty is a slut and that's hilarious"

Er, I liked episode 1. Didn't say that it was the only bad one. I'm fully aware of the fact that the opening episodes are the litmus tests for knowing whether or not you can stomach the rest, because the rest does revolve around the same kind of material. I'm just saying that the poop jokes pretty much stop after ep. 1 and the rest of the episodes take different stabs at it.

The problem isn't the literal poop jokes, it's the fact that its pretty much the only type of joke that's in it. It keeps getting hyped up as the next Pretty Sammy the tv series (Magical Project S) or the next Excel Saga but it's not. There is no depth, and there is no timing.

PONYCAN USA launched a few months back with two shows: Denki-Gai and Yuki Yuna is a Hero. Executive Director Kazuyoshi Fukuba answers a few questions about what to expect, and what's up with those prices.― PONYCAN USA is the newly-minted US distribution arm of Pony Canyon, which has been in the Japanese media business since 1966. PONYCAN USA follows the example set by Aniplex of America, in that th...

Shinichiro Watanabe's zany sci-fi showcase for his artist pals winds up on bluray today, loaded with special features in a limited edition with a hefty price tag. Mike Toole investigates.― Space Dandy is a series full of magic-- a magic that first reveals itself late in episode 1, during a sequence in which the show's titular hero and his new pal, Meow, are forced to run away from a pack of jumbo-si...

Find out if you won!― Thank you (again) for entering our contest (again). Winners: Patrick Nakasone, Honolulu, Hi Hiddi Jordan, Bailey, Mi Saul Diaz, Arleta, Ca Watch for our next give-away coming SOON! In the meantime, head over to SpaceDandy.com to find out more about FUNimation's awesome Space Dandy sets.

This little-seen family adventure about a group of tanuki living in Kyoto has careful writing and beautiful scenery; Nick Creamer thinks it might just be a modern classic.― In the guidebook accompanying Eccentric Family, series composer Shotaro Suga speaks frankly of the difficulty of condensing an entire book into an anime, and the question of where to even begin telling the story. “There are just ...

Every good fantasy series has a few incredible elf ladies on display. Today, Lynzee decides to finally share the elf.― The term "bombshell" was coined, very appropriately, during World War II to refer to the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and other sex symbols of the era. There aren't any elves in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but there are plenty of wild, voluptuous fantasy women wielding swor...

Deadman Wonderland is a dark, unsettling look into a private prison abusing the system for the whims of the Warden and a few governmental higher ups.― Ever since 1864, a “wonderland” has been a world where the rules of logic do not apply, a carnival that can be by turns fun and frightening. Deadman Wonderland has been playing with that definition since its first volume, and now in its seventh we beg...